Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999)

I am a Star Wars fan so, when i went watching this movie, i was totally certain that i wouldn´t be disappointed. And i wasn´t. The movie is a bit unlike than the others. Jar Jar Binks, for example, was funny sometimes but he didn´t fit into Star Wars that much. The Jedis, Obi Wan and Qui Gon were good, although Obi Wans character could have been better especially as Ewan McGregor is a great actor. But the movie is great. All the special effects are done with incredible detail. Most of all i like the final fight between Darth Maul and the Jedi´s, beacuse it´s so great coreographed. Another great scene is the pod race. Very entertaining and it´s also a good example why movies are best at cinemas.

9 of 10

Fmovies: After a long delay (and much anticipation) we finally got the first part of Lucas's story, and where the trouble all began. Many other people viewed it as a rather sub-par attempt, uncreative and unsurprising. I couldn't disagree more. One could go with the impressive state-of-the-art digital effects, one could go with the great cast of new characters (the awesome Liam Neeson as Qui-Gon Jinn, for instance), the return of old favorites (Kenny Baker as R2D2 or Frank Oz as Yoda), John Williams' ever-wonderful score, the complicated story (I won't bother discussing the plot; everyone knows what it's about by now) or the awesome action sequences (the light saber duel at the end of the film is the best!). It's obvious this film was misunderstood by many, and too many movie-goers set their expectations too high, which is unfair to Mr. Lucas to say the least. I was excited for the chance to see a new Star Wars film, but I took no expectations into the theater with me -- I went in ready for nothing and walked away very satisfied. I saw this film four times in the theater, something I don't do much of these days. Lucas did a great job, and since this film is really only exposition for the overall series, how can one expect it to be a topper to the original trilogy? He's just setting everything up! Give Mr. Lucas a break. If this film had been released first, it would have been the rage of ages just as A New Hope was when it first came out. Everything in this film was very nicely done; the cast and crew all performed their jobs exceptionally. The story was far more complex and interesting than usual, with more going on and more problems to solve. By the way, everyone, the "Phantom Menace" referred to by the title is so obvious that very few people truly understood what it was... the Phantom Menace was the orchestrator of the evil deeds, the driving force behind the attacks, the central villain of the picture... a character we see mainly as a hologram (only once otherwise): Darth Sidious. Darth Sidious is the Phantom Menace, and the evil single man who drives the entire plot. The movie was perfectly named. I loved this movie, and it has become one of my favorite Star Wars films (alongside A New Hope). I can't wait for Episode II!

Well, after waiting 16 years for his next installment, George has given us "The Phantom Menace". As a Star Wars fan I got what I expected - another chance to immerse myself in the Star Wars universe - a film whose sole purpose is essentially escapism. But as a movie fan, and judging it as I would any other movie, I frankly feel mildly disappointed. Any movie that's made can always be improved upon but I feel that this SHOULD have been better. Firstly the good points :

1) The visuals are stunning - a lot of love and hard work has quite obviously gone into the effects and the people involved can quite rightly be proud of their work

2) All the performances by the main cast were good. Particularly Natalie Portman and Pernilla August.

3) The Pod Race was exciting and amusing.

4) The final sabre duel was quite fantastic : Darth Maul prowling up and down like a caged tiger was a particularly excellent touch - it added real tension and anticipation to the scene.

5) The music as always was magnificent. The Star Wars saga would lose much of its charm and intensity without Williams' scores.

And now the negatives :

1) The pacing was too fast in parts! The first half hour of the film just left me cold - you weren't led into the story. You were dumped straight into the action. On paper I'm sure the first half hour looked fantastic but I found myself sitting in the theatre going - 'hey, great special effect shot there!' I wasn't involved in the story and the scenes lacked tension and danger.

2) The film only truly started for me on reaching Tatooine. I finally got a chance to get to know the characters. However there still was not enough character development in the film as a whole. For example, Obi Wan had nothing to do or say throughout the movie except flash his light sabre around from time-to-time. Who is Obi Wan??? After seeing the film I'm none the wiser. And the final sabre duel (good as it was) would have been infinitely better had the relationship between Qui-Gon and Obi Wan been explored past the mere mentor-apprentice motif. The final sabre duel lacked emotional involvement as a consequence.

3) Why did they make Jar-Jar so incomprehensible?? I found myself becoming annoyed at having to strain to understand his nonsensical utterings! (Having said that, he wasn't as annoying as I'd been led to expect) Why George used easily identifiable racial accents for his alien characters completely puzzled me. It just shows a lack of imagination!

4) Not enough Darth Maul.

5) What's with the biological exposition on the Force! Was that necessary? The first three films pointed to links between the Force and genetics but I don't need tiresome cold scientific explanations as to the Force's origin, thank you very much! It just ruins the mystique.

6) Can we have less of the mindless gaffes that occur in the final battle scenes (You know the ones that save the day!) Its an insult to the audience's intelligence (In a full theatre I swear I didn't see a single soul who looked under sixteen! - has George forgotten about the original fans). In the original trilogy there was none of this cringeful embarrassing material (Ewoks excepted!!)

Well I think I'll stop there. To summarise : a good movie that could have been a whole lot better. Perhaps there was too much story to cover in two hours? In which case the plot should have been shortened

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace fmovies. This movie, the most hyped movie of all time, has been put under the microscope and looked at in a variety of different ways. It seems that everyone had prejudged the movie before it was even released, and then strutted about claiming that they told you that it would be that way. There was the die-hards, who were impossible to dissapoint. There were of course the disenchanted and the unimpressible, who probably would not had conceeded the movie was good no matter what. There were the people who acted as if this movie symbolized their disapproval of media hype itself, and by principle decided to dislike the film. Looking over the other comments I see the opposing viewpoints clearly. OK, the movie was overhyped, but what do you expect in 1999, the year of hype? I was four years old when the A New Hope came out, and of course, I loved it. I was four, and a science fiction epic can have its way with a boy of that age. I think many people in the 20-35 age group expected to have that same life changing event that happened to them twenty years ago this time around. That is the equivalent of going to Disney World for the first time since you were a kid and being let down: Did you expect the impact to be the same? Take the movie for what it is. OK, it isn't just any movie, but it behaved like one, with strong points and weak ones as well. First the strong points.

1. All the acting was terrific, with the exception of Jake Lloyd. Many critics complained of the stiffness of the Jedi characters. What some people saw as flat acting I believe was well acted restraint by Neeson and Mcgregor. Their characters were kung-fu monks, not the pirate Han Solo and the upstart Luke. 2. All of the sets and costumes were beautiful. Even Oscar worthy. 3. The music was terrific. John Williams outdid himself with the otherworldly choir at the end. Breathtaking! 4. The fight scenes were excellent as well, better than the ones in the Matrix because they had less special effects woven in. 5. The plot had more substance than the prior three combined. The intricate dealings of politics, the metaphysical properties of the force, the nature of bondage and the messianic innuendos sent me reeling. 6. The pod race. Ben Hur for the Space Age.

And for the weak points: 1. The flow changed speeds too often, making it seem somewhat unnatural. 2. Something did not work for me with Anakin's success at the end. It seemed more haphazard than the supernatural workings of the force. 3. Jake Lloyd is not a good actor. Period. the scenes between him and Portman awkward and seemed difficult. 4. The fact that some of the races of aliens resembled ethnic groups should not be considered offensive (I wasn't offended, and could have been). It does, however, seem like a lack of imagination.

Personally, I put this movie ahead of ROTJ, but behind the first two. It still definitely is worth watching. By the way, I was rather indifferent to Jar-Jar, as I was to the plight of R2-D2 and C3PO in all the other movies. I have a feeling history will smile on this movie as the story progresses in the future installments and we become more familiar with some of the new concepts introduced in this one. If you have decided not to go to any of them anymore, fine. That means just less of a line for me.

I loved this movie as a kid. I still love it at age 21. Sure, it can be a bit sloppy at times, and it switches from plot a to plot b constantly.The stereotypes can be jarring at times. But you know what, it is still brilliant. The characters are likable. Even jar jar is not that bad. The acting is OK. Not great, but OK. The hate seems to stem from old trilogy fans, not knowing that this film was merely trying to be something different. Yes, if you want a film that feels like the old trilogy, this is not for you. But if you are looking for a fast-paced, lighthearted sci-fi action movie with one or two smart scenes, good scenery, and interesting alien designs, then this is for you.

I heard a lot of pre-movie hype, about how "It sucks, it's going to suck, it has to suck, no one can make 4 good movies in a series in a row, it can't measure up to the originals!" Well, if George Lucas had tried to make it measure up to the original, people would have just been saying, "It's a cheesy remake!" You can't please all the people all of the time, but I have to think of it like this. I never got to see the originals in the theatres, because my parents were convinced by the religious zealots they associated with that "Star Wars" had to do with the "New Age" movement, and was therefore evil. I had to wait until the "Special Edition" release to see them in the theatres, and they were just as good to me, I think, as they would have been if I had been seeing them on the big screen as a kid, even though I had seen them on video several times over the years. We need to remember that there will kids there who are seeing a "Star Wars" film for the first time, and this will seem like magic to them, even if YOU think it sucks, because you are older and know better, and because it doesn't have Luke, Han, Leia, etc. etc. I thought it was great, and no amount of know-it-all fans are going to convince me otherwise. The underwater scene was incredible, MacGregor and Neeson were great, as was Portman. Lloyd, contrary to "those in-the-know," was good too. The effects were better than ever, which is not surprising, as most modern special-effects are based on those pioneered by George Lucas for his first Star Wars film, because there was no one out there doing what he needed. See it with an open mind, and remember, it is the first part of three that preceed those we already know. Sure, most things seemed shiny and new in the movie, whereas they had "used and battered" look in the other three, but remember, this is a prosperous time, during the "Old Republic," before the dark age brought on under the rule of the Empire. I liked it, and I am sure I will like the other two, as well as episodes VII, VIII, and IX. It's another story from another time, and not to be judged on the merits of other actors and stories that take place after. By itself, it is great. As a part of a larger story, it is good too. That's my opinion, and I'll stick by it.